But the allegiance among black fans changed with the arrival, in the late 1930s, of the Grays. They had Buck Leonard, the first baseman gifted equally at the plate and in the field. They had Josh Gibson, the immensely talented catcher. They were, in effect, a black all-star team. The Negro Leagues caught on in Washington.
"That's how so many people in the African American community made their connection to the game," said Gilman Whiting, a professor of African American studies at Vanderbilt University. "Take that away, and watch what develops."
From left, Daniel Howard, 14; David Harold, 10; William Minor, 13; and Simon "Big Hurt" Casselle, 12, are among 300 members of the District's Satchel Paige Little League.
(Dudley M. Brooks -- The Washington Post)
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What develops is a bit of irony, for as much as Jackie Robinson is hailed as a baseball hero and a civil rights activist for breaking the major leagues' color barrier in 1947, there are those who believe the move hurt baseball in the black community. Other players followed Robinson to the majors. The Negro Leagues faded away.
"With the demise of the Negro Leagues and the early success of blacks in the major leagues, the game detached itself from the urban core," said Dan Kendrick, the marketing director for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. "And somewhere along the way, we lost our affinity for the game."
By the time the second incarnation of the Senators played their final game at RFK Stadium in 1971 pictures show a largely white crowd saying goodbye to a largely white team.
"The city was 70 percent black, had a middle class that could afford to attend games, and yet there were no marketing efforts that were directed to getting black people in the park," said Clifford Alexander, a former secretary of the Army who worked with baseball to try to facilitate minority hiring. "The relationship was zero to none."
Poor Representation
In the ensuing 30 years, basketball has become the sport of the black community -- by a wide margin. "Baseball wasn't glorified like basketball," said veteran outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds, an African American who tried to make the Nationals this spring. "There's no affiliation to what's cool in the inner city."
Some experts believe that part of baseball's downfall among African Americans is a result of the few African American stars the sport has developed recently. New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, whose father is black and mother is white, is one exception. But several other prominent African American players from the last 20 years have been frequently injured. Others have become known as much for off-field incidents as for on-field prowess.
Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, two prominent members of the New York Mets in the mid-1980s, have each struggled with substance abuse. Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., a superstar in Seattle in the 1990s, has been slowed by injuries for four years. Barry Bonds, who has recently passed Robinson and Willie Mays to move into third on the all-time home run list, had a reputation as surly and difficult even before his name surfaced in connection with steroids.
Hammonds believes African American kids are aware of those players. But he said they're also aware of how they're represented in the media. "I don't think we're getting a fair representation of our heroes playing this game at the highest level," Hammonds said.
Frank Robinson points beyond the field. He is one of just four African American managers in the majors. There is only one black general manager, Ken Williams of the Chicago White Sox. There are no black owners. "Players have to know there will be a place for them in the game," Robinson said. "And it can't just be assistant to this, assistant to that."
Whether one reason is more important than another is debatable. The results aren't. Mike McManus, one of the founders of the District's Satchel Paige Little League, said the 300 kids in his league notice they have very few baseball players to admire.
"It's all reflective of the preponderance of the number of role models in the NBA and the NFL, which have hundreds of African American stars," McManus said. "In Major League Baseball, the kids don't recognize the contribution that African Americans have made to the game and continue to make to the game."
So, in turn, many of them don't play.
